Gender Mainstreaming Policy in the Jordanian Water Sector.

This Gender Mainstreaming Policy in the Jordanian Water Sector is a sub-sectoral document that is part of the 2016-2025 Water Strategy. Its purpose is to integrate gender concepts and considerations into the workplace and build the capacity of men, women, and youth to improve water management at all levels. This initiative has also helped form a team of gender focal points from various water sector institutions and funded a gender audit study of women working in the sector to identify opportunities for them to increase their role and contributions. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation will implement the included action plan to embed gender concepts into all of its policies and strategies. The long-term goal is to integrate gender into the water sector's work, ultimately making a separate gender policy unnecessary. The next National Water Strategy will incorporate gender considerations directly.
The overall objective is to strengthen the water sector's procedures to promote gender equality and equal opportunities, empower women, and consider the specific needs of both men and women throughout all planning, implementation, and evaluation processes. The policy's sub-objectives are (i) Enhance women's contribution, especially in leadership roles, by modifying institutional procedures, reallocating resources, and improving the work environment. It also aims to build the capacity of all employees, particularly female leaders, in gender concepts and leadership skills; (ii) Mainstream gender in sectoral plans and programs to ensure equal opportunities and the optimal use of water resources, thereby helping to achieve sustainable development goals; (iii) Create a gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation system by establishing a standardized, gender-disaggregated human resources data management system. This system will collect essential employee data, categorized by gender, job type, and location, to ensure consistent classifications and standards across all water institutions; (iv) Develop communication, awareness, and training mechanisms. This involves strengthening internal and external communication. Internally, it aims to create gender-sensitive communication that highlights female role models. Externally, the ministry will develop unified, gender-sensitive messages to promote a new organizational culture that supports gender mainstreaming and fosters a change in attitudes.
The specific actions for successful implementation of each of the 4 objectives are: (1) building a gender-sensitive institutional culture: this objective focuses on analyzing all existing laws, regulations, strategies, and policies to ensure they are gender-sensitive and inclusive of both men and women; (2) empowering women and building gender capacity: this objective aims to increase awareness of gender issues and provide employees with the knowledge and tools to drive change. It includes promoting women's leadership, increasing general gender awareness, providing practical tools for implementation, strengthening the women's studies unit, and developing a gender-responsive budget; (3) implementing a gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation system: this objective involves using gender-disaggregated data to assess the different impacts on women and men. Key actions include standardizing information systems to collect and use gender-disaggregated data, conducting regular surveys, and establishing key performance indicators (kpis); (4) communicating and sharing best practices: this objective focuses on creating a positive image of successful women in the water sector by developing clear, gender-sensitive messages and engaging with local partners to align policies and achieve national goals.